Despite positive announcements about a new air defence mission in the Baltic region, NATO has not fulfilled a three-year-old pledge made in Vilnius to maintain a rotational deployment of air defence systems in the Baltic states, officials and experts say.
The delay is largely due to a shortage of air defence capabilities across Europe, with many systems also urgently needed to support Ukraine. Lithuania’s defence officials say the new mission format would allow NATO to deploy air defence assets more quickly when needed and avoid lengthy political discussions.
At the 2023 NATO summit in Vilnius, alliance leaders agreed that air defence systems would be deployed to the Baltic states on a rotational basis, meaning the systems would remain available in the region while different allied countries would take turns providing them.
A year later, then-Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas said preparations were underway.
“We are discussing the deployment of specific air defence systems in Lithuania, including Patriot systems. This will happen this year,” Anušauskas said at the time.
